Monday, January 16, 2012

Phew. It's always a relief to figure out a veggie-packed meal that my son will actually get excited about. This dish is the latest hit in my house (we had it twice just in the last week).

Being kid-friendly is not the dish's only good attribute. It is lower-carb and lower-calorie than many fried rice dishes because a good portion of the rice is "crowded out" bycauliflower rice. Now, if you're on a low-carb or paleo diet, you probably know all about this neat cruciferous vegetable trick. If you don't know about it, then prepare to have your mind blown, my friend.

This satisfying dish is packed with nutrients. It is vegetarian but provides complete protein because it pairs rice with peas and sesame seeds; adding legumes and/or seeds to grains means you get the same essential amino acids that animal protein would provide. This meal has loads of Vitamin K, folate, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and fiber. So, it's not just good for your children, it's good for pregnant and breastfeeding gals, and parents who just feel like they could use more nutrient-dense—and simple to make—meals.

One more benefit: this recipe is great when you're looking to clear leftovers from your fridge before they go bad. It uses cooked rice (I used basmati brown rice - it has a mild, popcorn-y flavor) and, although I used broccoli and peas, you can utilize whatever leftover or frozen vegetables you have on hand. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does!

Remove the cauliflower's tough stem and reserve for another use. Using a food processor, pulse cauliflower florets until they resemble rice or couscous. You should end up with around four cups of "cauliflower rice."

This is raw cauliflower - would you ever have guessed it?

Heat 1T butter and 1T oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and the white and light green pieces of scallion. Sauté about a minute.

Add the cauliflower to the pan. Stir to coat with oil, then spread out in pan and let sit; you want it cook a bit and to caramelize (get a bit brown), which will bring out the sweetness. After a couple of minutes, stir and spread out again.

Add cold rice (it separates easily, so it won't clump up during cooking), plus the additional grapeseed and coconut oil or butter. Raise heat to medium-high. Toss everything together and, again, spread the mixture out over the whole pan and press a bit into the bottom. Let it sit for about two minutes—so the rice can get toasted and a little crispy. Add the peas and broccoli and stir again. Drizzle soy sauce and toasted sesame oil over rice.

The frozen peas will thaw when they're tossed with the steaming hot rice.

You can use cooked broccoli or thawed frozen broccoli.

Cook for another minute or so and turn off heat. Add chopped scallion tops and toss.

I like to toast some sesame seeds in a dry pan; I sprinkle these and some more raw, chopped scallion over the top of the rice for added flavor and crunch.

Season to taste with salt and, if you'd like, more soy sauce. Keep in mind that if you're serving this with something salty and saucy (ie. teriyaki chicken) you may want to hold off on adding too much salt to the fried rice.Dig in, knowing that more than half of your serving of fried rice is actually veggies!

Can you tell where the brown rice ends and the cauliflower begins? Me, neither.

This is the second time I have seen this today and it sounds wonderful. I was thinking I needed to get a ricer to do this, but glad to see you could do that in your food processor. I definitely need to try this. Love cauliflower and fried rice!

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Tonight I made the Full Belly Sisters Cauliflower Fried Rice with only slight modifications because of what I had available. I added some sweet chili oil and chili flakes for a bit of heat and cashews in lieu of sesame seeds and I didn't have peas so I used Edamame. But the idea of using Cauliflower Rice was wonderful and no one was the wiser...so tasty too!!

This is the best recipe in the world. I made it for my family and everyone loved it, even my 10 months old baby!! This is definitely going to make my list of things to make every week. It is so easy, healthy, and delicious! Thank you Full Belly Sisters for this. The pina kale-ada smoothie is fabulous too. I can't wait to try more of your recipes!!

This is the best *review* in the world! Thank you so much for taking the time to post it here - such a thrill to hear your positive feedback. And i love picturing your baby trying to wrangle it all into his (or her?) mouth. So sweet. PS. This is a weekly meal for us, too :-)

Made this for my better half as a Valentine's treat. She goes as crazy for this as a thick juicy steak (her favorite or used to be!) I love it too and I'd be surprised if you didn't too. Give it a try and let us know if your family discovers the cauliflower.

I made your cauliflower rice the other night and it was delicious! I didn't have peas so I just used more broccoli. I also added toasted cashews for a little crunch. My 3 year old helped chop up the cauliflower in the food processor and ate three helpings herself! Thanks for such a great recipe!

I made this yesterday we all loved it :),,i had some left over vegis and cauliflower that i already made the day before the same way so when i saw the recipe i was like thats perfect ,,my son loved it and i told him that its almost all vegis he couldnt belive it lol but he loves his vegis :)thank u for sharing it :)

I made this last night, and it came out amazing. This recipe is genius! It was so good that my husband even loved it, and he's not much of a healthy foods guy. Thanks so much for coming up with such a great way to add even more veggies to a dish!

Whipped this up tonight and wow, so good! Love the flavor and the husband enjoyed it too! We'll definitely add this one to the rotation. Feels so good to eat something so full of veggies that's not a salad. :) Thank you!

I made this a few days ago and it was great. My son does not like cauliflower, but he had no idea that it was mixed into the dish. I did not use peas or broccoli, but added different vegetables. Thank you for the recipe!

Made this tonight using pineapple in place of the broccoli, added egg and Sriracha sauce. It was amazing! My 14 mo. old loved it and DH went back for more. Said it was the most cauliflower he had ever eaten.

Wow - I just saw this on Facebook (via Cupcakes & Kale Chips) and I can't wait to try it! Quick question: do you think it would be ok to substitute peanut oil for grapeseed oil and also shallots/onions for the scallions? Thanks for posting! :)

It's a very versatile recipe and I never make it quite the same way twice - i think your changes should work just fine. I have sometimes added a big spoonful of PB if i don't have sesame oil handy - the flavor is really nice and I think your peanut oil would be great. And I have made it with onions when I don't have scallions on hand - it tastes great (I just love the color that the scallions add). If you try it, please report back and let s know how you like it :-)

I agree with this being the best!!! My 4 kids gobbled this up in a matter of seconds. No one knew it was anything other than rice until I told them....after their second or third helping. I did double the recipe and made A LOT but there was still no leftovers. I was hoping there would be some left to give to them for lunch tomorrow. Oh well, guess I have to cook again. Thanks for this AMAZING recipe. Even my hubby loved it.

I looooooooooove this recipe! I actually have started using just cauliflower and no real rice. It's one of those meals that tastes awesome and makes me feel really good! I think cauliflower 'rice' is one of the coolest things too. Thanks so much for sharing this simple, delicious and veggieful recipe :)

I posted about how much I loved this recipe before, but wanted to say that I love it SO much, I am making a blog post about it this week! I will be linking back to your site and giving you all the credit for this wonderful, addictive dish :) Thanks again for sharing it! thatcookingchick.com

Full Belly Sisters

Justine and Flannery are sisters who share a passion for women's health. The Full Belly Sisters blog offers useful tools so that you can be healthy and informed while you're pregnant, breastfeeding, or just striving for balance in your life.

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